This shirt was originally a dress. I bought it at Top Shop many years ago on a trip to London. I couldn’t try it on and so wanted an item from there (this was before it came to Canada). The dress didn’t exactly fit and was both tight and loose at the same time on the hips (how does that happen?). It wasn’t very comfortable or flattering. But the item was sentimental; I wanted to keep it.
Taking SCISSORS to the dress would make it work! Below is the original dress.
I cut the dress an inch or so underneath the zipper and I used the excess skirt fabric to make a perfectly matching pocket square. I sewed up the bottom hem of the shirt and did my best to sew a square (it is way harder than you’d think). Even if my hem isn’t perfect you can’t tell when I tuck the shirt in or fold the square.
To bring out the white in the shirt I paired it with a white blazer from JCrew. The cuts of their suiting fit me perfect. I have this style blazer in a few in different colours. The super cute black flats have bows on them and are my new go-to. I wore the ensemble to work and it was fine to last all day because of the stretch in the skirt.
Bonus: I reused and saved something from the garbage heap to make a completely unique outfit. I also had extra fabric to gift another pocket square or to practice sewing. Yay upcycling!
Shirt and pocket square: refashioned Top Shop dress
Blazer: JCrew
Skirt: Jacob (now closed)
Shoes: H&M
